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Home Office deports three times more teenagers to war-torn countries than previously admitted

The Government has deported three times as many teenagers to countries ravaged by war and poverty than ministers have previously admitted, figures seen by The Independent reveal. Charities and politicians have warned the 'life or death' decisions of whether to deport young people are being mishandled by a 'callous' Home Office without a grip on the facts. (Jon Stone The Independent)

Despite spending their formative years in Britain, children granted temporary leave to remain in the UK as asylum seekers are often sent back to a country they have not lived in for years when they turn 18. The Home Office says the young people sent away from the UK “no longer need our protection”. Ministers had previously believed that just 151 former child asylum seekers had been removed after coming of age in 2014, but quietly issued a correction buried deep in parliamentary documents issued the day MPs went home for Easter. The new statistics show that 445 18-year-olds who came to the UK as children were in fact sent back to the countries they flee from as soon as they come of age. The change, part of a wider and previously reported revision of asylum data stretching back to February, means three times as many of the teenagers are being thrown out as previously thought. Read more here